Mazda Protege5

cbmorton · April 2002

I'm also from London, Ont. with a silver P5. Just curious: where do you get yours serviced? I've heard the dealer (Probart) is pricey when it comes to routine maintenance. I've only got 1800 km on mine so far so haven't had a chance to try them yet.

mustang87 · April 2002

came back from greensville, south carolina late tuesday night. went to the samc convention with a couple of buddys from Florida Atlatic U. the school paid for everything so it was fun. the highlight was off course tour of the bmw museum which is nice and we got to test drive 330, z3, m3, mp5 and x5 on their proving grounds. we were also supposed to tour the bmw plant but it was canceled for unknown reasons. (they were also supposed to shocase an x5 with v12 with 700hp street legal but that car got stuck in europe. the cars are amazing. my favorite got to be the z3 and m3. they are glued to the road. m5 was much heavier and we felt it. same for the x5 in the slalom. the 330 was auto and we tested it on a skidpad dry and wet. my first run was second best in time (my buddy was first) in our group of people. on my second lap i put the car sideways and knocked over all the cones in the slalom sideways. yeah, it was fun. you get to beat the h#ll out of $50k+ cars free. then we went offroading in an x5. amazing. i never thought this suv can actually go offroad. we drove through 2 feet of water without a problem. we also did crazy things on inclines and declines and i really did think its going to flip over. when going sharp rocky down hill, the car can brake automatically without you pressing the brake. just hold on to the wheel. going 40mph on sharp gravel the car was smoother than a p5 on pavement. really awesome. maybe i will post pics if they come out. going back to south florida we drove through atlanta and decided to stop to eat. we ate at hard rock in downtown. this was my first time in atlanta and i thought it was pretty nice, bigger and better than miami, though it seemed like the whole place was teeming with homeless people. btw, i did buy the big game? lottery ticket but looks like nobody won, its up to 200 mil. i haven't checked yet if i won anything. maybe i should go back up to get another ticket.

didn't they rate matrix as better in slalom then a p5. that sucks. how could that be possible?

an mp3 with both cams, injen cai with bypass and bosal exhaust only gained 10hp.

i appologize for making this long again and i hope you had as much fun reading it as i had on the trip.

limpyboy · April 2002

Well, armed with my TMV printouts, it's me vs. my car salesman mano a mano. Wish me luck. My prey is a black or midnight blue P5 with antilock and sunroof.

Thanks to all and Edmunds for great info, tips and advice.

Interesting note: More than 70 readers have been excited enough about the P5 to consumer reviews on Edmunds.

Total for Subaru Impreza Outback Sport (what I was also considering), which has been around much longer: 8.

sunbyrne · April 2002

Good luck! I hope you're successful in capturing your prey. :-)

cdnp5 · April 2002

Its nice to see another P5 driver from London. I'll wave next time I drive by you. My P5 is silver with tinted windows and my plate starts with WCS (think Will Come Soon, as in winning the lotto). I've only had the 8,000km done as there are only 11,000km on the car now and I did go to Probart. Its cost me $50 with taxes which isn't too bad. I think its around $30 for an oil change at most quick lubes. On the good side they gave me a coupon for 10% off accessories and two candies. Then in the mail I received another coupon for $10 off my next service. They had a sign in the service dept stating that they will not be washing cars do to the cold temperatures at that time. The weird thing was since new shifting into second always felt notchy (is that a word?) even when warm but after my service it went away. I think I will call before I get my 16,000km service done so I know how much it is first. I really don't know any other places to take my car in town, do you have a good mechanic?

mustang87: That trip to BMW sounds amazing. Can anybody do this? I would love to drive all of their cars on the track.

mp5freak · April 2002

I'm from Brampton, ON.... where do you play beach? Probably around London I guess, but just curious as I've played in the past (but usually indoor court now) and will likely be playing again this summer.

Oh, and BTW, I've got a blue P5. New Pioneer deck, new Infinity Kappa speakers, PG amp and 12" sub going in today, and probably tinted windows later this spring...

cdnp5 · April 2002

Maybe that title is a little bit of an oxymoron. I play at Spikes Indoor Beach Vollyball on Weston street (don't know if you know London or not). Its a good place that has three courts and a climbing wall. I'm only a B+/A- player depending on the day and how I feel. They have tourneys there on the weekend, league play during the week and the owner runs a Port Stanley tourney which you get a lunch buffet at GT's on the Beach which is actually quite good. We go to that one for the fun and sun and really don't care if we win that one. Playing outside is harder than it looks (the wind and sun and no roof make tracking the ball more difficult). The first one is scheduled for June 15th if you are interested I could get you Spikes phone number so that you can put in a team. Let me know how the stereo install goes, sounds (pun intented) like a nice system, should be a big improvement over stock.

cbmorton · April 2002

I'll keep an eye out for you. My P5 is silver, no tint, and I've got one of those loon plates. Probably safe to say I'm the only P5 in town with one.

As far as service goes, maybe I'm just cheap but paying $50 for someone to change the oil and check the fluid levels seems extreme. The last car I had where I had to pay for service was a Honda, and Westgate only charged $25+tax or even $20 sometimes for the same thing. High service costs seem to be a Mazda thing, though--the latest World of Wheels (Cdn car magazine) sums up their long-term test of a P5. They said absolutely nothing went wrong, but that they got dinged $50+tax for their first service and $69+tax for the second one, and they commented on the high prices. Someone where I work recommended a good all-makes mechanic here in the north end to me that I might try, and I've heard good things about Woodfield Automotive on Adelaide--they mostly do Hondas but will work on anything. I've got a couple of months to decide, at least--I don't drive much so I'll hit four months before getting to 8000 km.

mustang87 · April 2002

yeah, anybody can drive the bmw's at their proving grounds but it is pricey. i think starts somewhere from $500 to a couple of grand.

on the p5 side, i got a new plat on friday, "zoom p5". really looks good on a car. it looks like it came from the factory like that. much nicer than a bunch of random characters. how many people here have autos. back in september i felt 2 kicks in it on different occasions like it slipped or something. yesterday i had another one. its smooth usually but yesterday i had one "kick".
anybody else experienced this. seems strange as i wasn't able to reproduce it.

bjewett · April 2002

mnkyboy - yes, I agree yellow is an attention getter. Unfortunate that MT didn't mention that other colors are available. And, it was funny that the writer griped about yellow but the folks preparing the cover put the P5 there (in yellow!) instead of the WRX or Matrix.

bjewett · April 2002

Is there an update (in some form) of the P5 coming? It has been around for awhile now... I assume it would be minor, but I'm curious.
Thanks for any info.

meinrad · April 2002

sport shift automatic, available leather....something else I think.....

mp5freak · April 2002

Yes - I'm quite familiar with indoor beach...just played at ICEWAVE at the Docks in Toronto a few months ago. The beach game is very challenging... I guess one of the reasons I like court volleyball better is that its generally a higher intensity game. Thats just IMO, but in beach there always seems to be more 'dumping' and short rallys than in indoor 6s or 4s. Anyway, I just got back into volleyball recently after a few years off, so I don't have a regular team yet. But thanks for the offer to hook me up with the tournament organizer.

Back to the P5

I just got back from getting the sub and amp installed. The Pheonix Gold amp and 12" sub were a bit overkill for me, but I got them at a great package price so I couldn't resist. There is definitely a ton of power - more than I need. I'll probably adjust the bass boost DOWN a bit as its a bit overpowering to my ears. I'm not one of those guys who wants everyone to stare at him at a red light because the bass is so damn loud

Overall my system is probably complete for now. I could use some more power in my full-range speakers, but I don't know where I'd put another amp and I don't have any money set aside for that purpose. Just FYI for anyone thinking about installing an amp in a P5. There is little extra space anywhere in the car. Mazda has done a good job and making the most of the available space, so most of the space is inside the cabin where most people want it. But to install an amp this can be a problem - I had to get it installed on the seatback. So the amp is on the 40 part of the 60/40 split back seats. Not a big deal unless I want to fold down both seats and put a ton of stuff in there. Since I'm not into mountain biking or anything I think I'll be okay for now. The other place a small amp could go is under the front seats, but installation is trickier and you may have to deal with more visible wires.

Anyway, thats it for now! Next thing will be tinted windows and a better security system...

dwryter · April 2002

I cannot hear the rear speakers unless the fader is set 95% over. Is that common for the P5, or should I whine about it on the first service appt?

Also, does one have to remove the entire interior panels to replace the speakers? I'd like better ones but the interior is so rattle-free I hesitate to remove anything.

Thanks.

samsuniverse1 · April 2002

Hi,

I'm thinking of buying a mp5 but am concerned about the very small size of the armrest. I noticed a discussion in the archives regarding a possible after market one coming. Is there an update on this topic? Is a after market armrest available yet? Anyone have suggestions for a solution to this problem?

Thanks,
Sam

douglam · April 2002

Yeah, somehow there isn't much sound coming out from the rear. Even after I have replaced my factory radio and upgraded the speakers. The only thing that might be causing that is probably the dental-floss thin speaker wires, but it's a pain in the [non-permissible content removed] to change...

Yes, you have to remove the whole door panel to get to the speakers (front and rear). No shortcut. As long as you don't break any clips, things shouldn't rattle after you put it back.

I've mentioned this before... if you're not going to change your stock radio, don't waste too much money on speakers. The stock radio simply doesn't pump out much power. And don't expect a HUGE improvement just by changing the speakers.

sharonf · April 2002

Yes....I am waiting for the updated P5's to come out too. As I wanted an automatic....I figured it best to wait for the sport shift(tiptronic)...and I wanted leather. Got a call today from the Cars Direct guy and he said it looks like one might be in by the end of the month that matches my request....So now I'm gonna contact my couple dealer contacts and see if they'll beat the cars direct price. Anyone else take this approach? and if yes....how'd it go?
Also....is there another update that I don't know about? And where can one find more info about this sport shift?
Thanks to all of you for providing so much info here!!
Sharon

coznefx · April 2002

I was wondering if someone could shed some light on this soon to be obsolete feature. I've yet to figure out the benefits of either leaving it on or off.

pciskowski · April 2002

dwryter,

I noticed the same thing. Some of it could be the rear seats muffling them too.

This guy has an EXCELLENT website with instructions (& pictures) on replacing the stereo & speakers:

http://www.astolfo.com/p5/p5.asp

I'm worried about rattles too. I had several in my last car after replacing the speakers that I could never fix (part of the reason for the trade).

For now the stock speakers sound OK given that I have spent quite a bit of time messing with the controls. It doesn't sound too bad with the treble all the way up, the bass about three quarters, and the midrange about a third of the way up. I'm not sure if the improvement would be worth $200 - $300 to replace the speakers, and I'm also not ready to replace the head unit.

chicagopro · April 2002

I asked the same question about overdrive a couple of months ago on the Pro sedans board...just remembered that I had actually saved the responses, although not the authors. Thus, the following is kind of anonymous:

"I used to leave the OD on all the time. Some people turn it off in the city. It's used to make the engine run quieter on the highway though. So definitely use it on the highway, turn it off in the city if you want to (there is no point to turning it off though)."

"I leave it on most of the time, I only turn it off when I need to do a downshift immediately, usually when merging onto highways from onramps."

"I usually turn it off when in stop-and-go traffic under 35mph, or if I'm staying under 20mph (as in a school zone). Other than that, I keep it in OD."

"Overdrive is my friend, having an automatic Pro5. Really what it's meant to do is keep your revs low and gas mileage high. If you are careful, the overdrive OFF button is like a mini turbo booster. If you're cruising around town and need a lot of power suddenly, you mash the gas pedal, the car shifts down 2 or 3 gears, you run the revs up to redline, and go nowhere. Turning overdrive off is like a manual downshift, putting you closer to more power with less chance of doing the above. I drive around with overdrive on but I'm quick to that off button. I mostly use it when I need to speed up to get through a yellow light or if I'm driving 25 for a school or hospital zone and find that my revs have dropped to 800. That makes it tough to get back up to 40 without getting run over. I also turn overdrive off on the highway sometimes for more passing power. I've discovered that the Pro5 develops a fair bit of power and can actually seem impressive if you are cruising at around 40mph, pop the overdrive off, and hit the gas. For whatever reason around this speed, your revs with overdrive off put you right in the power band and you can take off like a rocket (if that's what makes you happy, of course)

"

Hope this helps!

--Dale

maltb · April 2002

hehehe...nice job as TH secretary.

cappyk · April 2002

Don't get me wrong, I like my car, but the Zoom Zoom song is the most annoying jingle I've heard in some time. My girlfriend consequently loves the song/concept and makes fun of me at every turn saying, "Zoom Zoom!" She also uses it as a verb, "Let's Zoom Zoom up to the market."

The woman in marketing at Mazda that thought this song was a good idea should pay me reparations for the damage to my masculinity.

That little Angus Young in the commercial might as well say, "Womb Womb."

CappyK

cbmorton · April 2002

Overdrive is another name for the fourth gear on a 4-speed automatic. If OD is off the car will not shift into fourth gear; if it's already in fourth and you turn the OD off, that forces it to downshift to third. Earlier this year I had a rental car with one of these OD off buttons on it, and it was useful when driving around in the city at speeds that were causing the transmission to constantly shift between fourth (overdrive) and third, which was annoying.

The advantage of using the fourth gear is that it's quieter and more economical; the downside is that sometimes the transmission will be in fourth when you don't want it to be--that's where the override button comes in.

bluong1 · April 2002

Yeah, I agree, I think this zoom-zoom music is rather annoying. However I like the zoom-zoom word. I found it friendly, young and dynamic, so I have proudly a zoom-zoom sticker in the back of my P5 allthough I usually not like any kind of sticker anywhere. I prefer much better the music of Mitsubishi slogan.

Bruno

chicagopro · April 2002

Okay, I confess...I'm a big geek.

--Dale

tboz1 · April 2002

I just purchased an Pro5 and also inquired about the mid year updates. The dealer produced to me a sheet highlighting the updates and the following are some of them (from memory):

Sport-shift automatic
Tweeters mounted on the A-pillar (adjacent to the mirrors)
Titanium colored gauges
Some other minor interior trim changes on the dash
Bi Colored leather shift knob
Leather seats available

Nothing too dramatic, no external changes from what I remember. Price change was only about $70.

maltb · April 2002

It may be annoying but it has been Mazda's most successful tag line. The moniker and it's song are nowhere close to being retired.

Overdrive only means that the engine RPMs are higher than the transmissions output shaft(s). To the casual driver, switching it off is just a way to get the trans to downshift when it doesn't want to do it appropriately on its own.

bluong1 · April 2002

Mazda marketing people and engineers obviously do not have very fine musical ears, otherwise we could have a better zoom-zoom music and a better sound system on the P5.

Follow the example of Mitsubishi, or Microsoft with the music for windows XP slogan.

Bruno

tincup47 · April 2002

I don't find the Mitsubishi or Microsoft music to be that good myself, and find the sound system in my P5 to be perfectly adequate. I did buy the vehicle primarily for it's driving characteristcs though.

the_big_h · April 2002

does exactly what it was suppose to do. Now everyone in the WORLD knows when you say (in a whispering voice) 'zoom zoom', you're talking about a Mazda.

global advertising at its best!

bluong1 · April 2002

the_big_h: usually good marketing and good artistic quality are rather hard to combine. ;-)

tincup47: I buy the P5 for the same reason than you do and I think most of people here too. I enjoy every mile of it (over 15k). To be honest, I don't mind that much the sound system either, since the real session of music listening for me is happening likely at home, where I spend enormous amount of time listening to ~3000 classical CDs. The music in the car is mainly used to keep me alert on some long and boring highway.

All the best,

Bruno

bpi · April 2002

"Overdrive only means that the engine RPMs are higher than the transmissions output shaft(s)."
Shouldn't it be the other way around?

maltb · April 2002

Pardon my error, you are correct.

It should read: Overdrive only means that the engine RPMs are lower than the transmissions output shaft(s).

cdnp5 · April 2002

I see your point of the cost. That is a big difference. Where you happy with the service you received from Westgate? If so I believe they would do the service on your P5 for you also. I looked at the Hondas at the dealer on Wharncliffe and after I bought the P5 they said that they would do the service on my car if I wanted them to. I give them credit. The know why I didn't by the Honda (and wish they had a car like the P5 because its taking away some sales) but still tried to keep my business. Some people just give up after they lose the sale. I even got a follow up call from Honda to see how things were going with my car about a three months after, interesting.

sharonf · April 2002

Dale,
I liked the quote about "like when I need to speed up to get through the yellow light". Hmmz....is that what was taught in drivers school? I am guilty of that trait as well though....thought not as much as of late due to an experince about 6 mos ago.....light was green....speeding up to catch it...turned yellow...car in next lane and I speed up to go through....car in front of me didn't(even though she was already at the intersection...and had been going slow enough that there weren't even any brake lights shown...already had coasted to stop...guess what....bamm....right into the back! Now I'm a little more cautious in not assuming the person in front of me is gonna go through a green almost yellow light!
Fortunately I don't have my P5 yet...so it wasn't as bad as it could have been!

sharonf · April 2002

Thanks for the info.....so I'm guessing you went ahead and bought the P5 without the updates huh.
My local dealers are so clueless about it all....I know more than they do. I think I'm gonna wait...the one cars direct has coming is missing a couple of the options I want......More waiting =(
Sharon

coznefx · April 2002

for the overdrive insight. I tested it out on the highway tonight and was pleasantly surprised by the extra boost...definitely going to come in handy!

chicagopro · April 2002

Yikes! Your experience sounds pretty scary. That's the one thing the driving instructor DID try to tell me: Never assume!

And the more I drive around, the more I see his point

Hope everyone was okay!

Yeah, as I said, I can't remember who posted all those comments about the overdrive...anybody care to claim the 'yellow lights' one?

--Dale

sunbyrne · April 2002

Dammit, tweeters on the a-pillar? That means they have different speakers and it'd be much easier to replace the cardboard crap in there with real component speakers. Grr. Oh well, I couldn't have waited anyway...

badboyeee · April 2002

thats cool, so the newer p5s should have 6 speakers now huh. oh wells this wouldnt have made me wait longer anyway too

badboyeee · April 2002

jus picked up my cargo tray today. took 3 weeks! its pretty cool, except that i didnt expect it to be so rubbery and all. i already have finger marks on them from jus trying to install it

pciskowski · April 2002

The mazdausa website states that cars built after 2/28/02 have six speaker stereos. I wonder how much to "upgrade" to a now "standard" feature?

dwryter · April 2002

Thanks, poiskowski, douglam and others for the responses. Seems the fader situation is endemic. Too bad I missed the 6-speaker P5 by about a month. They'll probably come out with a 160HP version in another month. I guess no matter when you buy there's always something better just around the corner. I waited 3 years for the PT Cruiser to come out, then wasn't satisfied with its power, handling and MPG; 3 years for the RSX (Integra replacement), to find its backseat is unusable; and a couple years for the Civic Si to find its too expensive and too small. The P5 seems fine except for the nits.

sharonf · April 2002

Hi all,
I'm appealing to all of you who are more knowledgeable about cars than I. I have been waiting for the updated P5(as I just decided in March that I needed a new car...it made sense for me to wait). Well...I got a call from the Cars Direct guy that he has one coming in that almost matches my request. The only options lacking are the moonroof deflector(which I feel is necessary to lessen what many have said is loud wind noise)...and the polished alloys.
My question....how difficult is it to install the deflector(not for me...but for say the local dealer)....and...also...would it be ease/feasible for the non polished alloys on "my" car to be switched with polished ones from another P5 on the lot? Too involved? or not something the dealer would be willing to do?
If anyone has any info I'd appreciate it
thanks,
Sharon

sunbyrne · April 2002

My dealer had a [non-permissible content removed] of a time finding me a P5 with what I wanted on it, and the one they did find didn't have the deflector, so they put one on. No problem whatsoever.

I don't know about the wheels, though.

Good luck!

meinrad · April 2002

The dealer will probably switch the wheels no problem. Mine did. The car they had that I wanted had the polished alloys and I really didn't want them, so he swapped them for the standard alloys on another car.

douglam · April 2002

Don't kick yourselves just because of that 2 extra speakers. I won't be suprised if the 2 extra speakers are crappy as well

It's just because they're probably going to use the same radio and power will still be lacking (these paper cones are probably the best 'match'...hahaha).

If you know about car audio stuff and you DIY most of the stuff, upgrading the 2 front speakers to component speakers isn't hard at all, just a bit of drilling and some re-wiring. If you don't, many places like Circuit shity and Beast Buy sometimes offer free installation, so getting upgrades for car audio isn't really an issue.

For me, if they had an option that allows you to buy the car for like $300 cheaper without the factory stereo and the speakers, I WOULD definitely go for that! (your money definitely goes (way) further if you go aftermarket when it comes to car audio)

But on the otherhand, when it comes to the sport shift transmission, I sometimes wish I bought the car later. But then, a manual would still be better

toronado455 · April 2002

I've been test driving P5's and have noticed a whistling wind sound when on the freeway. I've driven 2 cars without the moonroof but I also drove one with the moonroof. All three made this noise. The sound seems to be coming from the back of the vehicle somewhere as if one of the rear windows was cracked open (but of course none were). The fact that I've noticed this sound on more than one car is troubling. Has anyone else experienced this problem and if so is there a fix?

mnkyboy · April 2002

For the 1,000,000 time, the wind noise is caused by 1.) The roof rack and 2.) The little black thing that pops up when you open the moonroof. If you take off the roof rack, it will cut wind noise down alot. You will still have some due to the black thing, but if you install a moonroof deflector this will solve all your problems. www.mazdastuff.com has them for about $40 bucks.

sharonf · April 2002

Thanks for your input....hopefully they'll be cooperative with me. otherwise....more waiting. I'll let ya know.
Sharon

Mazda Protege5

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